I really don't want to relive the first day of school but suffice to say it was awkward. It took a few of the teachers to talk me into coming into the great hall to watch the sorting but when they did- well- I got more attention then the kids being sorted.

Millie had just convinced the people that had put her in protection that she would be fine at Hogwarts. When she got back she showed a wild streak to her that everyone was surprised to see.

The next event that was really of any importance happened the middle of November.

I woke up with a start. Something wasn't right... again.

"Hello?" I whispered to the girl in my head quietly so that I wouldn't wake Sidney or the rest of my roommates.

Nothing.

"Are you okay?" I whispered.

Still nothing.

I blinked. What was I going to do? It felt so strange with her not there. Maybe I could enter her head like she did to me sometimes.

I closed my eyes and focused.

I felt light headed. I opened my eyes and saw mist.

"Hello?" I called.

"Zander? Zander, what the heck are you doing here?"

A figure in a hood appeared out of the fog.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes. Sorry, did I scare you?"

"No! It's just something was different."

She was keeping a ten-foot distance from me no matter how close I tried to walk to her so finally I gave up and stopped to talk to her.

"I'm asleep. This is a dream."

"Why are you sleeping?"

"People do that sometimes, Zander."

"Oh, Haha. There's something different about this sleep."

"It's a deep sleep."

"Why are you in a deep sleep?"

"People tend to do that too."

I rolled my eyes.

"Is this a magical sleep?"

"Yea," she pulled her cloak closer around her. "It's going to get deeper soon so I think this going to be the last dream I'm going to have for a while."

"But- but what about me?"

"What about you?"

"What's going to happen to me? And Millie?"

She shrugged. "She's got it all under control. She doesn't need me."

"Who's she?"

"You'll know soon enough."

"Why do you always-!"

"Bye."

"Whitehurst!"

I woke with a start as my bed tipped me out. On reflex, I jumped to my feet and shot a spell at my attacker. A ripping noise greeted my ears. It was only my roommates Tanale Baubs and Jax Briskel. I looked at them in horror at first because I was afraid I had hit one them with my spell. Thankfully I only cut Tanale's blanket.

They snickered.

"Sorry to scare you, Whitehurst."

I opened my mouth to say something but then the girl in my head took control for a few seconds.

I smirked.

"All's fine. I suppose you were practicing and you missed?"

"Yeah. We missed."

"I do that sometimes," I said, lifting my wand. "See, I'm having problems with my Accio spell. Watch, I'll summon that picture behind Jax's head. And- whoops."

I caught the picture and smiled "apologetically" down at Jax.

"Sorry. You see what I mean? It's hard to be careful with magic."

"You meant to do that, Whitehurst!" Jax said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"No more then you meant to tip my bed. A slip of magic, yes?"

I turned around and walked towards my trunk.

"Do you dare turn your back on me?!"

I bent my knees and a spell shot over my head.

"Why not?" I asked, turning around casually.

Before they could reply Sydney came into the room.

"Baubs, Briskel, Karlee Mandel and Camelia Hume are looking for you two."

"Seriously?!"

They dashed out of the room, completely forgetting me.

Sydney smirked and nodded at me then followed Baubs and Briskel. He had heard the entire thing.

I snapped back into reality.

What was that?

Nothing.

She was finally in a very deep sleep.

*************

After classes that day I sat on top of the wall by the Quidditch field. The place where I had found Millie a few months years earlier.

"Hey."

Millie flipped the status quo and had instead come and found me in this place instead of me her.

"Hi."

"Gonna tell me what's bothering you?"

"No."

"Oh."

We sat in silence for a bit until Millie sighed.

"I'm bored. I'd never thought I could be bored at Hogwarts but I am. I'm especially sick of all these rules. What's the use of stupid rules if you can't break them and not get away with it?"

I looked at her through the corner of my eyes.

"I never thought I'd hear that from a Hufflepuff."

"Well, Hufflepuffs don't break rules as much 'cause we're too busy enjoying little stuff in life. But I have had teachers breathing down my kneck all semester trying to make sure the historical Lord Voldemort doesn't jump out of the shadows and kill me."

I had caught a few teachers watching me as well but not as much. I studied the forbidden forest below and an idea came to me.

"Hey, Mil, want to do something really dangerous and stupid?"

"Yes!" She didn't even ask what it was.

"I've been wanting to practice some spells without anyone seeing and what better place then the forbidden forest?"

Millie looked down at the forest below in excitement.

"But how will we get in there without a teacher seeing us?"

"Let me take care of that. I'll meet you outside of the Hufflepuff common room at eleven sharp."

She nodded. "Let's take Matt."

I smiled. "Why not?"

***********************

I wandered around Hogwarts trying to find Matt. I was desperately hoping he wasn't in his common room because I could just guess what would happen if I showed up at the door asking for Matt the afternoon before the full moon. To them, that would probably verify the werewolf rumor.

I was walking down an empty hall when:

"Whitehurst!"

I was hesitant to turn around because I desperately didn't want a wand pointed at my face before dinner. However, I did turn around and saw it was Jezzabell. I almost turned back around and walked away.

If someone nearly dies with me around one more time I will finish them off! I thought.

Millie

That may have been too soon to say after my family's death.

Back to Zander

"Whitehurst!" She said with determination and what I hoped wasn't violence. Then thank Merlin's beard she suddenly lost confidence and stared at her shoes. "About the duel thingy a couple months ago."

I waved her off.

"I'm to busy for a redo."

"No," she kicked at an imaginary rock then mumbled "Sorry." Then looked around to make sure nobody was around she seized the front of my shirt and growled: "You tell anyone I said that and I swear you'll be asleep for more than seven months."

I pushed her hands away and as I smoothed the front of my now ruffled robes I replied: "My lips are sealed. Now if you'll excuse me I have things to do."

"Jezzabell!"

Jezzabell turned around and used a slip spell on the floor. A first year stepped into sight and then slid out of sight. We then heard some breaking glass.

"Curses!"

"Tru? What do you want?" Jezzabell asked the first year.

The embarrassed first year jumped to his feet and stared her down.

"I had a message from one of the teachers but never mind."

"Wait! Tru! Was it from Professor Clark."

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, it matters!"

Tru turned around and with a glint in his eye that made me feel sorry for Jezzabell, he said: "Ah, yes because you have to catch up on school work because you had to skip school for a few weeks after Whitehurst got attacked."

"You had to skip school? Why?" I asked.

"Um," Jezzabell coughed. "I-I felt bad that you were missing school so I thought 'Why do I deserve to learn when Zanders asleep and missing out on his education?'"

Tru snorted.

"Yea, right. Then I suppose all that time in your room you were morning Whitehurst's loss of education."

Jezzabell turned red. "Shut up."

"Okay." Tru started to walk away again. "Then I suppose you don't want to know what Professor Clark said."

Jezzabell paused to say "Brothers" before she dashed after him.

****************

I finally found Matt and told him what we were going to do that night.

The plan was I would wait for everyone in my common room to go to bed or at least wait until eleven that night. I would then use a new spell I found that could make me disappear and then I would go to the entrance of the Gryffindor door and tap the floor with my wand with a spell that made it that only Matt could hear it. Matt would then do his best to use the disappearing spell and sneak out. We then would go to the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room and repeat everything to get Millie.

I admit, what we were going to do was stupid but even smart kids make stupid mistakes.

Even stupid mistakes that could cost life itself.